Two hats: New Bern’s public works director fills in as city manager

Mark Stephens, New Bern’s interim city manager, came to the city after working in Statesville.

Bill Hand/Sun Journal

By Eddie Fitzgerald, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 06:24 PM.

Mark Stephens has juggled two roles and many moving parts of a city for the past four months as New Bern transitions to a new city manager.

Stephens, 38, New Bern’s director of public works, was unanimously appointed to the interim city manager position by the New Bern Board of Aldermen in December as Mike Epperson, former city manager, was resigning.

Aldermen are now in the process of narrowing down candidates for the permanent city manager’s post. Mayor Dana Outlaw said he hopes a new manager will be hired by June 1, but that might be an ambitious hope.

Outlaw said he has known Stephens since he arrived in New Bern in January 2011 to become public works director. From 2008 until he arrived, Stephens was assistant public works director in Statesville, a city slightly smaller than New Bern just north of Charlotte in Iredell County.

"He is energetic and very personable, very sincere and conscientious about his job,” Outlaw said.

Stephens is also liked and respected by his contemporaries and city employees, the mayor said.

“He has been a godsend to New Bern government since the departure of Mr. Epperson,” Outlaw said. “He is familiar with city government and knows all the employees and issues. He answered the call of duty when he was needed and the city of New Bern will always be grateful to him. He stepped up to the plate when he was needed.”

Mark Stephens has juggled two roles and many moving parts of a city for the past four months as New Bern transitions to a new city manager.

Stephens, 38, New Bern’s director of public works, was unanimously appointed to the interim city manager position by the New Bern Board of Aldermen in December as Mike Epperson, former city manager, was resigning.

Aldermen are now in the process of narrowing down candidates for the permanent city manager’s post. Mayor Dana Outlaw said he hopes a new manager will be hired by June 1, but that might be an ambitious hope.

Outlaw said he has known Stephens since he arrived in New Bern in January 2011 to become public works director. From 2008 until he arrived, Stephens was assistant public works director in Statesville, a city slightly smaller than New Bern just north of Charlotte in Iredell County.

"He is energetic and very personable, very sincere and conscientious about his job,” Outlaw said.

Stephens is also liked and respected by his contemporaries and city employees, the mayor said.

“He has been a godsend to New Bern government since the departure of Mr. Epperson,” Outlaw said. “He is familiar with city government and knows all the employees and issues. He answered the call of duty when he was needed and the city of New Bern will always be grateful to him. He stepped up to the plate when he was needed.”

Stephens, who still works from his public works office in City Hall beside the larger, vacant city manager’s office, said it has been a smooth transition. Working closely with the city manager for three and half years allowed Stephens to be involved in many of the day-to-day issues, he said.

Epperson also assigned Stephens to the city’s executive budget team.

“My involvement with the budget afforded me the opportunity to be very involved in a lot of the different departments and what was going on, like grants that the recreation and the planning departments apply for because that all has to go into the budget process,” Stephens said.

The $138 million city budget currently being worked on is the fourth Stephens has been involved with since he came to New Bern, he said.

Stephens’ responsibilities now include being the executive leadership of the city, which has eight departments: public utilities, finance, fire and rescue, human resources, parks and recreation, development services, police, and public works. The job involves the execution and implementation of policy and overseeing the day-to-day operations and management of the municipal organization of 475 employees.

Stephens said some of the challenges he is proud of during his interim position included working on the city’s goals and objectives that help staff prepare their budgets, working to balance the budget, helping the new members of the Board of Aldermen get up to speed on city government, and seeing to the day-to-day operations of running the city.

But it hasn’t all been smooth and easy. During his watch, there were two major ice and snow storms and two New Bern police officers were shot, one fatally.

“Those are some unfortunate events you don’t ever expect when you take a job,” he said. “And you hope it never happens again.”

There is no typical day for a city manager, Stephens said.

“I try to plan as best I can, but it varies from day to day,” he said.

During most days, Stephens is in contact with aldermen if they need help on an issue or if he needs their advice. He also has numerous meetings to attend in public works, city administration, with the county and Havelock — Craven County’s second largest city — and other organizations.

“It’s a balancing act as far as your time is concerned,” he said.

The quick rise to public works director and interim city manager didn’t feel unusual because he had prepared for it, Stephens said.

“When I was younger, I wanted to set myself up professionally so that I could weather poor job markets wherever they may be,” he said. “...I always liked government and I like the government side of things as well.”

So Stephens prepared himself to work in the private sector by getting a bachelor of science degree in engineering technology with a concentration in civil engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and in the public sector by getting a master’s degree in public administration from Appalachian State University.

“I wanted to make sure I was established in my education enough that it protected me professionally with my career,” he said.

Stephens also has advice for young people thinking of their fields of endeavor.

“While you’re in high school, before you decide hey, I want to be a veterinarian, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a pharmacist, or whatever, go out and experience those things,” he said. “Do a shadowing day or go talk to those people who do those jobs. It’s good to have dreams, but it’s good to know exactly what you are getting into.”

For the person who is selected to become the next city manager, Stephens said the best advice he could give is to be accepting of change because every four years there is an election and new Board of Aldermen members might not see city development the same as the city manager.

“...You’ve got to have your core values and morals and know the direction you want to go in,” he said. “But you have also got to be able to mold and change as the atmosphere and environment around you changes.”

Despite the challenge of holding two positions that are vital for New Bern, Stephens said it has been a positive experience for him.

“It’s been a good learning experience,” he said. “...Until the transition is done ... my goal is to keep the ship afloat and keep it going in the right direction and that is what I’m trying to do. My goal is to make New Bern the best place it can be. I try to do that day in and day out.”

Stephens and his wife, Erika, live in New Bern with their three young daughters.

Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at eddie.fitzgerald@newbernsj.com.